Thirst
by Wunderlast
Summary: During a moment of weakness, Blaze imagines a perfect life. Oneshot.


Blaze decided they would discover each other on accident.

Yes, of that much she was certain.

It would be on a cloudless, sunny afternoon in the early days of summer. She would be out in a nameless city for a reason she had not yet established.

He would be mere feet away from her, busying himself with something that would be nothing new to him. Perhaps a job, perhaps a hobby; either way, he would know exactly what he would be doing, and he would love doing it. His motions would flow seamlessly from one to the next, like those of a ballet dancer passionately performing his most prized routine.

She would immediately notice that his furrowed brow and slight frown was the face of a true savant focused on his craft. As Blaze would watch his wonder with awe, he would happen to glance up at her for a mere instant. He would resume what he was doing as if nothing happened, but suddenly drop everything for a double take.

Her eyes would meet his, and their gazes would instantly lock.

In that eternal moment, in that everlasting second, they both would know immediately that they were—

_No, no, no, no, no, no, and no,_ Blaze mentally scolded herself, furiously ruffling the fur on the back of her head in frustration. She did not live in some disgusting storybook catering to flabby middle-aged women who had long ago forgotten the touch of a man.

She sighed tersely and plopped the side of her chin into her hand. _Take two._

Blaze decided they would discover each other on accident.

Yes, of that much she was certain.

It would be on a cloudless, sunny afternoon in the early days of summer. She would be out in a nameless city for a reason she had not yet established.

The sordid buzz of urban sprawl would fill her ears until its brutal pollution leaked into her mind. Her thoughts would blend with the smog in the air until they became so muddled that they were indistinguishable from it. She would hate it there, definitely.

Though merely a fantasy, Blaze felt her rib cage tighten with every breath as she imagined phantom bodies of featureless strangers brush against her arms. She shuddered, because even if it was simple speculation, the sheer alienation of the situation chilled her body to its core.

He would carelessly bump into her. He may or may not apologize, but Blaze would shoot him a filthy look regardless. If he had not apologized before, he would after that. He would then regard after a moment that he had never seen her in this part of town before, and offer to show her around. He would introduce himself, but Blaze could not hear a name as the fantasy moved along.

"No. Leave me alone," she would respond curtly before walking off.

Blaze hung onto this imaginary dialogue for a few moments, staring blankly into empty space as her words replayed in her head.

_"Leave me alone."_

Why would she say that?

She absentmindedly traced her bindi with her right pointer finger as she leaned on her right arm.

After a slight revision, she now would say "Um...sure?" with a charmingly nervous chuckle and a raised eyebrow.

Anxiety clutched Blaze's heart, though at first she did not know why. _Is it really that hard to open up to someone?_ she wondered in her confusion.

Her immediate response to herself was an overwhelming, vehement _YES!_

_But why? Even in a delusion?_

She did not have an answer there, so she continued her fantasy from the revision.

Blaze would walk around the city with him all day. He would unravel the chaos surrounding her in their oppidan odyssey. He would take her to the local cafés and introduce her to the kind street vendors. The city would become less winding and exotic with every passing hour. She would let him do most of the talking; his mannerisms would be charming enough to hold her attention.

He would call her rather introverted, but he would not really mind.

The day would pass by in a montage, and evening would take them by surprise. As dusk would creep upward from the east, he would offer to take her home.

"Oh, no. I don't need to be anywhere else right now," Blaze would say quickly. That would be a lie.

He would grin and think silently for a few moments about what else they could do. Suddenly, he would delightedly exclaim and tell her about the beautiful city limits. He would describe it as a grassy meadow with rolling hills and sweet-tasting air. At night, constellations would splatter across the pitch black canvas of sky. Noise would not be able to reach them in this ethereal garden.

She would agree to go there without too much forethought.

They would lay down in silence together for a long time after they make it to the limits. The view of the sky would be just as breathtaking as he described. In this moment, Blaze would feel closer to a total stranger than she had felt with anyone else before.

She would tell him she is a princess, and that she lied about not having anywhere important to be.

He would laugh at first, but he would know her enough by then to realize she was being serious after thinking for a moment. He would half-jokingly ask her if she had any more secrets.

Blaze would be silent again for a while after that question, but only because she would be struggling to find the courage to tell him about her deepest insecurity.

Outside of her fantasy, her throat tightened as she thought of the curse her soul was forced to bear—the curse of the eternal flames. She had often wondered what her life would be like if she only lacked just this one thing. Most of her "what if"s ended more happily than any ending she could see in her reality. The lilac cat inhaled deeply and closed her eyes as she exhaled.

Maybe he would have a curse of his own.

Blaze's heart could not help but leap at the thought.

He would wisely interpret her long pause as a "yes" and clear his throat awkwardly. He would apologize for prying and tell her a secret of his own. It would be something silly, like an embarrassing moment in school or an awful first kiss. They would laugh at the arbitrariness together and fall into silence.

"I'm cursed," she would tell him after a few moments.

He would not understand what she means by that.

Blaze would stand up and silently make abstract movements with her hands. He would sit up and gawk at her curiously, perhaps wondering if he had picked up a psycho.

Flames would erupt from her hands and their light would cast a warm glow on anything it could reach. The crisp night air would suddenly feel chillier as heat radiated from the tips of her agile fingers. He would jump back as a dying ember floated toward him, his eyes wide as saucers and his mouth involuntarily agape.

When the initial shock wears off, he would tell her that was beautiful.

The thought of this imaginary stranger hypothetically telling her that a part of her was beautiful made tears well up in her eyes.

She adamantly wiped them away and sniffled. How on earth did she manage to get so lonely? Blaze immediately answered with her pyrokinesis, as its mastery required a childhood's worth of stringent training in isolation. In addition, the fact that she even had those powers automatically put others around her at risk of injury. _Who would_ ever love_ me enough to risk being hurt?_ she thought. If only she were prettier, or smarter, or stronger, or funnier, or nicer so she would be worth the danger.

Though this was not a new concept to Blaze, the thought hit her harder than it had ever done before. A silent sob escaped through a crack in her otherwise firm façade.

_At least_ _I can pretend that I'm worthy in my own mind,_ she thought hesitantly. Her muzzle burned bright brink pink under her tears, but Blaze disregarded shame and returned to her masturbatory musing.

She would smile bashfully and look down at her shoes. He would chuckle for lack of anything to say, then after a moment tell her that she was the strangest person he had ever met.

"Is that a bad thing?" Blaze would ask playfully, holding her arms behind her back. She would bite a corner of her lower lip in a poor attempt to hide a smile.

He would say it is a wonderful thing.

Her eyes would meet his, and their gazes would instantly lock.

In that eternal moment, in that everlasting second, they both would know immediately that they were fated to be with one another.

He would edge nearer to her and she would not back away. Blaze would lean her face closer to his lips.

They would kiss.

It would be a light peck on the lips at first, but it would quickly evolve to a passionately deep, full force kiss. Their tongues would dance together as if they had been partners for decades. Blaze's eyes would close as his presence overwhelms her other senses, and she would gently wrap her arms around his neck.

After thirty seconds, they would separate to take a breath of air. They would look at each other intently. He would offer to take her back to his house for the night.

"Yes."

Blaze would date him for a few years. He would all but live inside of her palace and assist the staff with keeping it beautiful. His parents would love her as if she were their own. She would feed him soup when he is sick, and he would rub her shoulders when she is stressed. He would sit with her and keep her company when she watches over the Sol Emeralds. He would listen to her every feeling and soothe her every emotional wound.

He would propose to her on the anniversary of their first kiss. They would marry on the autumn equinox. Their wedding would be quiet and simple, and there would be no need for rings.

Every day they would tell each other they loved the other. Every night they would peck each other on the cheek and say goodnight.

They would live happily ever after. An ending befitting a princess.

A digital clock glared at her with its alarming red text saying "4:47 am." Sighing, she took off her shoes, climbed into her bed, and curled under her covers. Her bones ached with newfound exhaustion. She wiped her tears away one final time and gently closed her eyes. Images from her daydream fluttered on the backs of her eyelids and danced in the depths of her mind. He whispered in her thoughts how beautiful she was.

Blaze fell asleep, fatuously infatuated with a figment of her desperate imagination.


End file.
